Andrew Niccol is returning to the world of The Host, Variety reports.
Though Niccol originally provided the screenplay, Susanna White (“Generation Kill,” Nanny McPhee Returns) was set to direct the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel. Plans seem to have changed, though, and Niccol will now helm the project as well.
The novel, released in 2008, represents the first full-length work from Meyer after her overwhelmingly popular “The Twilight Saga” and is officially described as follows:
Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie’s thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer’s mind with visions of the man Melanie lovesJared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.
The Host is set to star Saoirse Ronan in the lead and will no doubt aim to capture some of the success of the billion-dollar “Twilight” franchise, the next sequel to which, Breaking Dawn – Part I is slated to hit theaters on November 18th.
Niccol, meanwhile, is finishing his next project, Now, set for release on October 28th.
